Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

windshield wiper fluid smells

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Here's my wiper fluid smell story:

In my Acura Integra, I sometimes had a terrible smell in the car. It seemed totally random. It smelled a little like dog poop, but it was hard to identify.

I finally realized that the smell happened after I cleaned the windshield with the wipers/wiper fluid.

Long story short: I'd used a one-gallon milk container to mix the wiper fluid, and apparently the sour-milk smell remained, even for months.
 
Yes, I felt the fluid that originally came with the tesla was the most horrible, the most atrocious bad smelling blue-inked water ever made. I tried to use it up as much as possible, but there is so little fluid used at each press, that it took a long time. I hope the $1 they saved on the windshield washer fluid was worth it.
 
Not uncommon. Especially in barrels that have been sitting out for a while in a service center. The water evaporates and leaves a higher concentration of ethanol or methanol which would be the reason you’re smelling a whiskey smell. I don’t know Tesla’s specifically but a lot of times the fluid reservoir is near the vents that draw in air to the cabin and it’s pretty much just pumping this smell directly into your face.